The countdown to the green flag of the 62nd Running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring has begun with the final practice and qualifying sessions completed today at the famed road course. The No. 27 Dempsey Racing Porsche 911 GT America and the No. 28 Dempsey Racing/Konrad Motorsports Porsche 911 GT America both secured starting positions inside the top 15. Running in the ultra competitive GTD class, 25 entries are expected to take the green flag in the class for the brutal endurance race.

“This 12 Hours of Sebring is such a long, grueling race,” said driver and team owner Patrick Dempsey. “Your starting position isn’t nearly as significant because so many factors will play into the outcome of the race. Since it is such a long race, you’ve got to stay out of trouble. Traffic will play a big, big part of the outcome. Our strategy will play a big part. However, I think we have a good car and a strong driver line up, so we will be solid in those areas. This race is so much fun. It’s a fantastic track, it’s so challenging and has tremendous history. It’s more physically challenging than any other track in so many ways, not only for the driver, but for the car itself. I think that’s what makes it so special. With the recent rule changes our crew has been working really, really hard, so I want to have a good result for them.”

Andrew Davis, who will co-drive with Dempsey, Joe Foster and Norbert Siedler, qualified the No. 27 Porsche this afternoon. After working through braking challenges during the morning practice session, Davis was able to log a lap time of 2:05.087 (107.637 mph) to secure the 13th starting position.

Meanwhile, Christian Engelhart completed the session for the No. 28 Porsche he will co-drive with Rolf Ineichen and Franz Konrad. The team overcame challenges understanding the tire compound to clock in at 2:04.784 (107.898 mph) in qualifying, and to secure a top-10 starting position. The team will roll off ninth in tomorrow’s event.

“It’s strange to be happy about qualifying ninth, but we are because we were having a little trouble understanding the tire in the practice sessions,” Engelhart said. “We’re still working on it for the race, but we’re the fourth fastest Porsche and more important we’re quite close to the front in terms of lap times, so that’s good for the race. It gives our team more confidence going into the race.”